


On My Mind

by grabyourslingshot



Category: Annie On My Mind - Nancy Garden, Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: A little angst, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, a little fluff, they're all so youthful
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:06:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23165209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grabyourslingshot/pseuds/grabyourslingshot
Summary: Annie On My Mind, Supergirl style.Or, Lena is buried in school work at MIT but all she can think about is Kara Danvers, and processing what they had, what they lost, and what she might need back.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> A fic that nobody asked for, from a first timer, as a pandemic-era treat.

_ It’s raining, Kara. _

Lena Luthor narrowed her eyes at the words she had just typed, as though her hands were acting without input from her brain. She had been working on a paper for her civil engineering class, comparing her intent to develop proprietary, non-plastic, carbon-negative synthetic building materials to Frank Lloyd Wright’s use of natural materials and surroundings for his house at Bear Run, Pennsylvania. The insistent wind and rain was rattling her dorm room windows, though, and distracting her. She sighed, picked up a nearby notebook full of design sketches and notes, and flipped around to a blank page.

_ Darling Kara, _

_ It’s raining here, just like it rained so hard when we met last November.  _

_ Did you find what you were looking for in California? Are you singing to anyone? Do they get goosebumps when you sing? You haven’t said in your letters. I’m sure, whatever you’re up to, you’re probably making someone’s world better. _

_ I saw a woman the other day who reminded me of Eliza and it made me think of you and your room, and the cats, and Alex telling stories when we went for that ride on Thanksgiving.  _

_ I know your last letter said you weren’t going to write to me any more until you got one back. I know this hasn’t been fair to you, and I’m sorry. Your letters have been wonderful, and I know I’m going to miss them. I just keep thinking about what happened and trying to forget, and I can’t forget you. I can’t blame you for not wanting to speak to me ever again. _

_ I know I’m not going to send this.  _

Lena closed her eyes and absently took her dark hair out of its too-tight bun. Long hours between paper writing and designing at her drafting table had made her forget her finishing school posture. She stood up and slowly stretched out her shoulders and back, opening the top buttons on her blouse for the sake of comfort. Her nearest neighbor in the dorms tried to tease her for being a perfectionist, laughing that she didn’t need to dress like she was taking over LuthorCorp tomorrow. Lena sharply reminded her that she would be reviewing employment applications in no more than three years’ time. Her neighbor hadn’t spoken to her again, but Lena knew she would be finished with her double major at MIT in a year and a half, and would be forced to earn an MBA as well. There were certain requirements to carrying the Luthor name.

Her drafting table was full. Her paper was incomplete on her flickering laptop screen. Lena sat down again, taking care to elongate her body this time.

_ I have to sort out my place in this mess before I try to talk to you again. I need to work through the bad parts, and the thing with Veronica, and the Board, and my family, before I can examine the good parts. I wanted to forget everything but you, but it isn’t that simple. _

Lena put down the pencil, frustrated, and tried to picture Kara wherever she was right now. She couldn’t dream up any background she didn’t already know- just their schools, or Kara’s family’s house, or Kara in the little home they’d made while housesitting… 

She closed her eyes, breathing deeply and letting waves of emotion move through her, clawing out from somewhere deep and crossing over each others’ paths. She stood up and walked over to her dresser, automatically opening the bottom drawer, and had unearthed and put on a ratty sweatshirt before she could overthink it. It still smelled like Kara.


	2. Thinking About First Impressions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be gentle please- I haven't a fainting couch in my home.

Lena walks into the front doors of the Metropolis Museum Of Art like she owns the place. It’s pouring outside, and the other, rather soaked guests in the foyer gawk at her as she expertly closes her fancy umbrella and casually hands it to the nearest guard. “Good to see you today, Miss Luthor.” 

Lena is, as always, the picture of etiquette. “It’s good to see you as well, Henry. How’s your wife recovering?” Henry smiles genuinely now. “She’s doing much better- thank you! We’ve got her home and off that leg for another couple of weeks.” “Well I’m glad she’s following the doctor’s orders.” She smiles politely, and the guard looks tickled. He waves happily as she continues into the museum.

She takes the same route nearly every time. She’s here for the feats of architecture, and it’s a happy coincidence that the crowds in the lobby tend toward different exhibits. She heads toward the third floor of the American Wing, and when she reaches the top of the stairs, it’s so quiet she stops to close her eyes and take a breath. Now, feeling calm and collected, she walks toward the colonial rooms, only to hear…  _ Is that singing? _ She stands and listens for a moment, trying to decide if it’s a recording or not. Whatever it is, it’s beautiful. She walks toward the sound, into the colonial rooms, and finds a human figure-  _ not a recording, then _ \- seated at one of the windows with a painted backdrop. A ponytail of honey blonde hair cascades onto what looks like a thick, burgundy wool cape. Lena stands, listening to the warm texture of the stranger’s voice and ignoring the words. When it stops, she’s a little disappointed.

“You have a lovely voice.” 

The blonde turns around suddenly, looking shocked. “I’m sorry! I didn’t realize anyone else was up here.”

Lena almost feels bad for startling someone, though they are in a very public place. “I think it’s just us up here right now. I’m not familiar with that song. Is it from this era?” She waves at the window arch.

“Oh! No no, I was just making it up. I was thinking about being a young girl and being dragged to a new country and how it might...might feel like your whole world was gone.” 

_ She’s just as lonely as you are _ , the voice in her head says. “Well, it sounded very period appropriate. I liked it.” Lena purses her lips, trying not to say anything else, but the other girl is just looking at her now, like she has a million questions she’s not asking. Lena blurts out, “Do you come here often?”  _ Oh no.You idiot. _ Lena bites her bottom lip this time, determined not to speak again without thinking it through first. 

The singing stranger puts on a wide, bright grin, and it’s as though the sun is coming through the fake window. “No, actually,” she says. “I’m usually in school or practicing for a recital. Gotta get those extracurriculars in, you know.”

Lena smiles back, unable to stop herself. “Of course. I’m visiting the Temple Of Dendur today, trying to work on my solar house project.” Lena is surprised to find that she seems to have the blonde’s rapt attention as she explains the parameters of her project. 

“Do you mind if I tag along?”

Lena does mind. She enjoys her solitude, for one, and she doesn’t like group work. This is her routine. And yet… “No. No, I mean, yes, I- I would not mind if you tagged along.”

Her singer- _no, THE singer_ \- smiles again, and gestures for Lena to lead the way. They walk downstairs together in silence. Lena finally thinks maybe the other girl is waiting for her to speak, but when she opens her mouth to attempt small talk she realizes she doesn’t even know how to refer to her companion. She closes her mouth, then opens it again. “What’s your name?”

“Kara Danvers. Hey, what’s that?”

Lena responds with “Lena Luthor,” realizing too late that she answered an unasked question. Kara had already walked by her and stopped in front of the huge choir screen in the medieval art room. “This is from a 1668 Spanish cathedral.” She’s still staring when Lena stops next to her and looks over. Kara’s eyes are wide, and seemingly swimming in tears. Lena is taken aback. She watches silently as Kara looks at the screen with reverence, then closes her eyes and drops her head, almost as if in prayer. 

Some other guests of the museum walk by them and look on curiously, their faces lingering on each girl for different reasons. Lena holds a polite, distant mask on her face, trying not to panic internally.  _ Should I leave? Is Kara super religious or something?  _ She has had enough of fanatic rhetoric to last her a lifetime just from her own family discussing current events over the last few months. She doesn’t walk away though.

After a few seconds Kara opens her eyes. “It’s just so beautiful,” she said, simply. One of the other guests who had been gawking before snickers under their breath, and Kara’s head turns sharply toward the noise. She blanches a little then, and looks back to Lena. “I’m sorry if I embarrassed you.”

Lena had been laughed at before and didn’t think of this attention as particularly noteworthy for her, but she suddenly feels a rush of protection for Kara. She raises her voice so anyone in the room would be able to hear her clearly. “Never apologize for enjoying something just because others are too stupid or small-minded to understand it.” She doesn’t spare a glance toward the now-silent on-lookers, although she does drop her voice back to a more intimate decibel. “Would you like to see the Hall Of Arms And Armor next?”

Kara’s eyes get big and she nods, excited. 

They enter the Hall directly facing a lance, extended toward them by a life-size knight on horseback. There is a row of more knights behind him. Kara had been quiet on the short journey over, as though she didn’t want to embarrass Lena any further. Her face opens up into a huge smile now as she exclaims, “Oh--look! These are so great!” 

Lena decides, right then, that she likes this person. She used to be very into King Arthur stories, and even if she hadn’t often imagined herself in that type of adventure, the look of wonder on Kara’s face was enough to spark an interest now. That is...until Kara laughs and pretends to get on a horse herself, brandishing an imaginary lance back at the still knights.  _ How can anyone be this weird and this happy at the same time? _ Lena hears voices not too far away, and stiffens with embarrassment. This behavior can’t continue in public. She adopts her boardroom voice and schools her features, confident a single word is all that will be necessary. “Kara.”

Kara twists at her waist, looking back toward the warning voice. She yelps, dramatic but not loud, and crumples to the ground, falling from her invisible steed. She turns to Lena and boldly brandishes an imaginary sword. Lena is nearly shocked into smiling. Kara redoubles her efforts and says, “En garde! Stand and fight, or I’ll run you through!”

Lena can’t help it anymore. There are only a couple of children in the Hall with them, and anyway, Lena has been thoroughly charmed. She pretends to unsheathe a sword from her own hip, points it toward Kara, and answers the challenge. “You dare believe you could defeat me in single combat?”

Kara whoops, and they start pretend-fighting in earnest, dancing around the stationary knights and laughing uproariously. The children come over to watch, giggling and calling out insults and encouragements to “Cape Knight” and “Raincoat Knight.” Lena is absolutely lost in hysterics, clutching her side as a cramp forms from the exertion of laughing so much, and Kara is red-faced and teary-eyed with mirth. They’re both trying to signal the next steps they should take in their show for the kids when a new voice rings out.

“What in the world is going on up here?” A security guard comes into view, angry and sputtering, and grabs the young boy who had been rooting for Cape Knight. “You all go find your parents NOW, or I will find them for you!” He releases his grip on the boy’s shoulder. “And you two are old enough to know better, aren’t you?” He looks at Kara first, with a fire in his eyes; she is apologetic but not cowed. He looks at Lena next, and then he falters a bit when he recognizes her. She notices, and immediately switches back to her previous cold demeanor and quiet, dangerous voice.

“I was under the impression that the Luthor family had donated enough to this establishment for it to be in good useful order. Is this no longer the case?”

He’s caught, a bit. He glances toward Kara, who has a small smile for him. He nods quickly, then looks back to Lena. “No miss. But if too big a ruckus is happening, not everybody can use the museum in the same way.”

Kara gently steps toward them both, angled slightly in between them. “I see how it isn’t fair if we’re making too much noise. We just enjoyed the exhibit so much we just got lost in it! I had never seen it before, and Lena was nice enough to indulge me. I’m so sorry we got out of hand. We’ll be more mindful next time. Right, Lena?”

Lena and the guard each look at Kara. Lena can’t believe that kind words are the answer here, but it’s clearly working.  _ She really is a ray of sunshine.  _ The guard has calmed completely, and now sort of chuckles in Kara’s direction. “You two should do Shakespeare In The Park, honestly. Just try to keep your voices down, okay?”

Kara nods her agreement and thanks him for making sure everyone was safe. He leaves with a grin on his face, a little proud of himself. When he’s clearly gone, Lena lets out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding and looks up at Kara. Their eyes meet, and they both break into giggles. 

“Lena, that may be the most fun I’ve ever had!”

“You know...me too. I wasn’t even embarrassed.”  _ Why would I say that out loud? _ Lena looks up at Kara to gauge her reaction, and their eyes lock for the first time. Lena feels so many things at once- sort of tingly all over, and as though everything was in hyper-focus and fuzzy at the same time. She feels validated. She feels laid bare, and it scares her. 

They hold that gaze for a long time. Too long, really, but neither of them seems able to move. Lena finally finds her voice first, and so softly says, “Come on- let’s see the temple.” 

They walk together in silence to the Egyptian room, and Lena sucks in her lip in anticipation of watching Kara see the Temple of Dendur for the first time. She is in no way disappointed. Most people seem awed by the Temple- Lena still is, a little, and she sees it regularly- but Kara’s reaction is exquisite. Light is streaming in through the glass panels and reflecting back from the pool. The absence of shadows is usually what Lena finds most striking. This time, though, Kara gasps with wonder and opens her arms as she approaches, ending up right in the light, and Lena has never seen anything so pure in her life. 

“This is so cool! It’s just like it’s outside, even though it isn’t…” She falters a little, unsure how to describe what she’s experiencing, and Lena knows that frustration.

“I know.” 

Kara looks at her so softly, like they both understand what they can’t say. “Thank you for this. For all of today.” She smiles, wide and easy. “This room seems like you. Bright and clear. Not all mopey like me at the choir screens.”

Lena frowns at this. “You’re not mopey. You’re…”  _ Beautiful. You’re beautiful. _

Kara smiles again, like she could hear Lena’s thought. An alarm goes off from a watch or a phone, and she twists her lips. “I should go. It must be almost dark out.”

A moment of internal panic ensues. “Where do you live?” Lena blurts out before she even realizes what she’s saying. 

Kara hesitates for just a second, then answers. “Way uptown. Here, hang on--” She reaches for the little belt bag that’s sort of hidden under her cape and pulls out a golf pencil and a tiny reporter-style note pad. She writes down just about every way a person might think to contact her, rips out the sheet, and puts it in Lena’s hand, lingering just a second. “Now you have to give me yours, too.” She hands over the notebook and pencil, and Lena fills out her info. 

They chat as they walk back to the foyer, though Lena can’t remember much of what was said as soon as they move on to a new topic. Soon, Kara is swooping onto her bus, only about 30 seconds early, and Lena’s car has arrived for her. Suddenly Lena remembers why she had even gone to the museum that day.  _ I didn’t even do any work on my house project! _

_ Kara Danvers, you have run me through. _


	3. Thinking About Allegiances

Lena is down the block the next morning before she notices a town car trailing her closely. She abruptly turns and faces it, ready for confrontation. The driver has the tinted front windows rolled up, but the back seat window on her side is all the way down, revealing her brother casually leaned against the door. “I thought we were going to race all the way to school.”

Lena approaches Lex, already removing her backpack to pass it to him. “I didn’t know you were coming!”

“Yeah, well, it’s a big day for the family business, so I had to come see my good luck charm.” He passes her bag to the seat next to him as she seats herself across from him, the smirk never leaving his face. 

Lena grins at him, more widely than she does with nearly anyone else. “I didn’t think I’d see you before you started! Are you nervous?”

Lex was going to be named to a position at LuthorCorp today. The Luthors on the whole preferred quiet shows of their near-limitless wealth and power, but Lex loves a spectacle. The family had agreed to have a televised press conference with some fanfare, but no friends or family members present who weren’t active with the company.

“Not nervous. Prepared to take my rightful place, as you will be eventually.” Lena takes that in, letting the silence stretch.  _ I suppose he’s always been confident. He must think I’m such a baby. Kara’s really confident in herself too...  _ Lena suddenly realizes it’s still quiet, but there is a different feeling in the air. 

“What?”

“Lena, where are your manners?”

She rolls her eyes. “Were you saying something?”

Lex raises his eyebrows. “I was attempting to go over my speech with you, but you seem to be thinking about something else. Would you like to share?”

Lena presses her lips into a thin line, not intending to share a single thing. “I’m sorry. Start at the beginning of your speech. Someone has to stop you from making inappropriate comments in your first public talk, after all.”

Lex laughs, easy as ever. “You must be in love or something, to have missed your first opportunity to hear me make fun of our CFO’s neck beard!”

_ What would make him say that? _ Lena feels a little funny and must look pale, because her brother glances toward her and changes tack. 

“Here, just help me out with this bit in the middle.” He has everything memorized, so he recites his speech two ways for Lena before she chooses one as they idle outside the school. 

“Thank you for your services, as always sis! Try not to bore yourself to death with these children.” 

Lena smirks along with him this time as she exits the car. “I’ll be doing lunch breaks with you in the labs in no time. Break a leg today!” They laugh as they part, both feeling excited for the future. 

Lena had been close with Lex all along; he took her under his wing as soon as she was adopted and even shielded her from some nastiness with her new parents. Ever since they parted ways at boarding school- as Lex grew into an adult without her- things between them hadn’t been quite as cozy as before. It was nice to see him in person, and even nicer to agree on things.

She still had that little smile as she walked through the halls of the school that had been her home for years. She had started classes here at the age of ten, and had moved into her school apartment at thirteen. The Academy had first recommended Lena skip several grades given her intellect, but Mr Luthor was concerned about the missed networking opportunities. They’d ended up settling for Lena earning her high school diploma and first university degree concurrently, taking advantage of a distance learning program. She often wondered if she would miss this place.  _ At least it was away from Luthor manor. _

Lena is so lost in thought about her future, and yesterday, and Lex, that she walks right by a big sign on the bulletin board with stylized red print exclaiming: 

**Roulette’s Piercing Clinic!**

**Noon to one, this Monday**

**Girls’ Basement Hall**

In fact, she doesn’t even notice it the second time she walks past it, even though Roulette herself is standing right next to it, and is only snapped out of her daydreams when the bell rings. She goes to class, barely needing to pay attention to the teacher but still making an effort to stay engaged. She moves along to her free period, picking up her astronomy textbook for her university class, and works in the library alone. The lunch bell rings and she heads back to her locker to trade heavy books for lunch.

“What’ll it be, madam president?”

Lena’s head snaps up. “I’m sure I remember telling you not to call me that.” Max is looking at her with a smarmy grin on his face, and Lena rolls her eyes. 

Maxwell Lord, pain in the ass extraordinaire, had campaigned for class president at the beginning of the school year, but was hugely unpopular in anonymous polls even as he ran unopposed. With power just out of his control, he nominated someone he thought would never beat him to ensure he’d make the cut. She beat him by a landslide without even knowing she was on the ballot. Now he was looking at her like he’d tricked the devil himself, and Lena didn’t like that at all.

“What exactly is going on here?”

“Well step right up and you’ll see! I’m thinking you might be interested in a new piercing. Eyebrow?” Max does a wide sweep toward the door with one arm as he hooks his other arm around her shoulders. She shrugs him off. “Hmm, maybe you’d prefer one of those bull nose rings. Anyway, make your way, m’lady!” 

She walks through the doorway, careful not to let Max actually touch her. She generally prefers nobody touch her, honestly, but certainly not this guy. She looks around the lounge, transformed into a piercing studio, and finds a man covered in tattoos and piercings clamping down on a sophomore girl’s tongue with forceps as he murmurs to her in a soothing tone. The younger girl is looking back and forth between the piercer and a laughing Veronica Sinclair. 

“Ronnie, what the hell are you doing?”

Veronica seems to find Lena’s presence even more entertaining. “Welcome to my piercing clinic! I’m glad you dropped in today. This is Filipe, my personal artist.”

Filipe and Lena both look at Veronica like they’ve never seen a more irritating person. The poor girl with her tongue still being pulled out of her mouth is shooting her terrified looks.  _ We’ve got to stop giving Ronnie so much attention. _

“Why exactly is your personal artist Filipe at a high school holding an underclassman’s tongue?”

“Oh it’s all very safe and clean, don’t worry! Jennifer here just could not wait to get her tongue pierced after we talked about it and I told her how wonderful it could be in certain situations.”

Lena rolls her eyes once more.  _ Why do I still go to this school, again? _ “I’m not familiar with the health codes surrounding this sort of work, but even if it’s all legal you still shouldn’t be coercing sophomores into getting piercings. Come on Ronnie, you’re not an idiot.”

Veronica hardens her face at this. “It’s Roulette, thank you, and no, I’m not an idiot. All laws have been followed, Filipe is a licensed professional, and Jennifer absolutely can’t wait.” She turns to the chair, where the piercer seems to have started over in his process. “Right, Jennifer?”

Jennifer looks back and forth between them, then briefly closes her eyes before focusing on Filipe, who does seem very professional. Jennifer nods shortly and sticks her tongue out of her own volition. Veronica looks triumphant. Lena sighs.

“This has already gone beyond the bounds of what’s reasonable, so please just keep this in check, okay?”

Veronica grins, happy to reach an understanding. Lena hightails it out of there. Relief never reaches her though; as she walks toward her next classroom she sees people everywhere with puffy, bright red skin around piercings in ears, eyebrows, and noses. 

When she arrives at the art studio it’s as if the teacher is waiting for her, even though she always greets students at the door. Ms Lance does a once over of Lena’s face, then gives her a pointed look.

“I’m glad to see you still have the same number of holes in your face. Marg- uh, Ms Tate wants to see you.”

Lena chooses to maintain an air of innocence. “Oh? What for?”

Ms Lance rolls her eyes. “Oh please. I really wish you had stopped the whole thing. Now I won’t hear the end of this piercing bull- uh, piercing business for weeks. Go on, you might as well head to the office now.”

She allows a slight grimace in front of Ms Lance. She’s always liked her, even though this teacher has a temper. Maybe because of it. Ms Lance acted like she had no idea how she ended up teaching art in a private school, and Lena had been drawn to the instructor, rather than the idea of making her own art, when she had to take an elective. With a sigh and a shift of her bag, she turns and heads toward the dean’s office.


	4. Thinking About Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plotting of Annie On My Mind is reeeeally different than modern stuff, but I'm working it out y'all.

Dean Tate doesn’t look up when Lena walks in. She continues typing and looking directly at her screen, even after Lena clears her throat. After a full minute has passed, Ms Tate finally meets Lena’s eyes.

“Have a seat, Miss Luthor.”

Lena feels the urge narrow her eyes and quickly schools her face as she sits across the desk from the dean of her school. Ms Tate has perhaps been with this exclusive academy where the children of the world’s elite business people prepare for college and a life of prestige since the dawn of time. She looks as though she ate a particularly sour lemon sometime in the early 1800s, and though she is elderly, Lena can easily sense an unsettling resolve beneath the genteel exterior. 

“Miss Luthor. I’m not sure I have the words to describe how deeply shocked I was to learn that you had failed in your duties not just as student body president, but also just as a member of our student body.” 

_ This is laying it on a little thick. _ “Is there a particular way you feel I have failed the students of this school?”

“Can you recite the reporting rule?”

Lena begins to feel herself close off; a cool feeling, almost like a breeze in this stuffy room, slowly washes over her, hardening her eyes and stiffening her posture. “One,” she begins, purposefully without emotion, “any student who has broken a rule shall report their crime, along with identifying information, either through the intranet or by using the box on Gemma’s desk.”

Gemma Nye was Ms Tate’s executive assistant, and absolutely the sort of person who would ask to have a rule-breaking self-report box on her desk. She was given permission to teach the lower school children’s etiquette class years ago, and took on this inconsequential duty with a religious fervor that was concerning to many students and the few parents directly involved in the day to day lives of their kids. No matter; Ms Tate relished the chance to be publicly adored, and Gemma gave her that at every turn. 

Now, Ms Tate looks at Lena with obvious distaste. “You will address your superiors properly in this office.”

Lena raises her chin at this, not breaking eye contact. She says nothing, feeling the line between confidence and insubordination. 

After a brief staredown, the dean prompts Lena for the rest of the rule, choosing to ignore that challenge to Ms Nye’s authority. 

“Two, any student who witnesses another breaking a rule and not reporting themselves shall appeal to that person to turn themselves in. Three, any student witness unable to convince a fellow student to report their own misbehavior shall report that student by the same mechanisms, and include their own information for possible further questioning.”

“So you do remember the rules here, and you simply chose not to follow them?”

Lena scoffs at this. “Has any student used that rule this century? What is this  _ about _ , Ms Tate?”

“You participated in students all over this school having various body parts pierced! I had to send home multiple students already who were breaking our dress code, and one girl whose parents funded the entire year of scholarships removed her piercing because it hurt, causing a bloody mess. How am I supposed to explain this to them?”

The shrewd part of Lena’s mind is working. She understands that any incident can be turned into a catastrophe with the right spin, and that a catastrophe at a school like hers can be turned into students being pulled from the school and, even worse, funding drying up for her extremely bright peers who did not have the luxury of being able to buy their way in. 

“I am very sorry that this happened. I was not informed in any way that Rou-- that Veronica was planning to hold a piercing clinic. Once I became aware, the event was all but over. I did make sure the piercer was a professional working in a sterile environment. There was nothing else I could do at that point.”

“We don’t agree on the extent of your abilities or responsibilities, then. How would you feel being the student body president that lost us scholarships for lower-income students? And if the rules aren’t followed, what’s to stop students from physically harming one another?”

That cold feeling has thawed a bit.  _ Just don’t let her know you’re actually a sap, Luthor.  _ “I understand why you’re upset. How would you like to proceed?”

“That will be up to the student council for you and Miss Sinclair. Obviously you can’t preside over your own disciplinary hearing, so the vice president will be given the gavel.” It takes a huge effort for Lena to not roll her eyes at that. “I’d like you to think critically about your impact on this school before then. I will be speaking with your parents about this as well. You’re dismissed.”

The fight gone from Lena’s body, she picks up her things and leaves the office. It’s nearly the end of the school day already, so she goes directly to her locker, grabs her materials, and heads home.

Lena arrives at her apartment and checks each room to make sure she’s alone before flopping on the couch. It’s not quite enough to get her out of her weird mood, so she shimmies over slightly to be able to grab one of the pillows on the couch. She covers her face with it and yells directly into the fabric, tempering her decibel level even though the pillow muffles much of the sound. The pillow stays on her face for a few minutes afterward, serving as a welcome weight. 

Eventually Lena gets up and heads to the kitchen. She finds a note on the counter, left by her lovely housekeeper. “Call from your mother. She wants to talk about your school. Take a cookie.” Lena refuses to think too much about what Lillian will say about her upcoming disciplinary hearing, but does grab a cookie. She picks up the sticky note and sees there is a second note underneath the first. “Somebody call- I think Cara Danby- says hi.”

A little smile comes over Lena at that. She stands there a moment, then pours herself a glass of water.  _ Why is my heart beating like that? _ She finishes off the glass and pours another, then grabs her phone. With Kara’s contact info displayed, she hesitates.  _ Don’t be ridiculous. She called. _ Lena’s thumb hits the call button, and she quickly puts the phone to her ear, unconsciously holding her breath. 

Someone picks up on the first ring, but there are noises like microphone on fabric, thumping-  _ is she running? _ \- and the sound of a door slamming. 

Finally, a voice. “Sorry about that, hi!”

“Hello? It’s Lena.”

“I know. I know your voice. Hi. I’m glad you called back.”

In the privacy of her own empty home, Lena allows herself a smile. 

“Of course I did.”

_ Uh oh. I have nothing to talk about. _ A tepid tendril of panic starts to wind down Lena’s spine. There’s a pause that seems long. 

“So I was wondering um--”  _ She’s nervous too! _ “Maybe you might want to go to the Cloisters on Saturday? Um, with me? Not like- don’t say yes if you don’t want to, I just thought you might want to because you like the Met, but maybe not?”

Lena lets out a breath.  _ It’s warm in here. _ “I’d love to. I really like that park.”

“Awesome!”  _ Why does she sound surprised? _ “Um, it’s supposed to be pretty nice. I could...I could bring a picnic? We could eat it in the park- don’t have to go to the museum if you don’t want.”

The smile is back. “I like the museum just as well as the park. We could do both. Just promise you won’t go rearranging all the statues out front while people are watching.”

Kara laughs, full-throated, and Lena imagines her throwing her head back and scrunching her eyes closed.  _ Beautiful. _ The awkward tension is gone now, and they talk for a bit before they decide to do their homework and text later. 

Lena gets her school items together for a serious study session, feeling light and even. She smiles once more, thinking of that phone call and how it was just what she needed.

“See Luthor? Everything’s not so bad.”


	5. Thinking About Order

Ms Drake sweeps into the classroom a few minutes late, graceful as ever with her long brown hair and the flowy fabric of her dress taking an extra second to catch up to her form. Her eyes pass over each student, and they immediately settle. She picks up the poetry book the class has been working through and begins to read.

“Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.”

Lena quickly puts away the article she had been reading. Lillian had met all of Lena’s instructors 

to make sure they passed muster, and when Ms Drake spoke to Lena’s mother the woman actually paused and said, quietly and to no one in particular, “It seems we have our own Helen Hayes here.” Ms Drake had chuckled at that after looking sort of helplessly at the other teachers. Lena still isn’t familiar with the works of Helen Hayes, but she believes she understands the sentiment. Her lit teacher had a unique ability to command a room with her voice and her presence. 

“In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud."

Ms Drake’s hair is half pulled back, half down, and now she swipes some stray curls out of her face and toward her ponytail. “What does ‘ fell’ mean?”

“Tripped,” Max immediately said. “He fell getting on the bus- had a fell fall. A fell clutch would be him grabbing for the handle as he fell.” Max grabs at the air. Lena is unamused and doesn’t mind the boos from many classmates, but Ms Drake smiles good-naturedly. 

“Terrible,” she says with a smirk. “Who is next?”

Another student is called on and he does better. “In Lord Of The Rings they use fell to describe orcs and Sauron and stuff, so I guess it’s evil?”

“Very close, Jack!” Ms Drake opens one of the two giant books on her desk. This was a dictionary that allegedly contained nearly the entire English language; the other was a book of Federal laws. She told them she had them rebound years back, because collections of information so complete deserved some special attention. “Fell,” she reads now. “Adjective, Middle English, anglo-saxon, and Old French.” She lowers her voice an octave and passes her gaze slowly across the classroom. “Deadly.” 

The students are on the edges of their seats now. The instructor turns back to her poem.

“In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate...”

Ms Drake pauses dramatically and, just for a second, her eyes lock with Lena’s.

“I am the captain of my soul.”

Lena is taken aback. She’s pondering whether this choice in poetry for the day may have been specifically for her, and why exactly. Mentions that the teacher gives out poems or songs to each graduating senior make more sense now. 

“William Ernest Henley lost a foot to tuberculosis and spent a year of his life in a hospital, which led to this poem and several others. This one is called Invictus, I’d like you to find out what that means and bring in a poem by someone else that has the same theme on Monday.”

They spend the rest of the class period discussing what about Henley’s circumstances might have made him write poetry at all. Ms Drake reads a few more poems involving hospitals, and finishes just as the bell rings. Lena hangs back after class, thinking about Invictus and feeling, perhaps, a little too seen for comfort. 

“Coming?” Jack asks, hanging near the doorway.

“You go ahead. I’m going to see if I can find Veronica.” Lena puts on a smile so he won’t pry. “Us criminals have to stick together.”

Jacks grins at her now.  _ He really is a good guy. Maybe I should get to know him before we properly go to university. _ “Good luck, Lena.”

Lena finds Veronica standing in front of student council chambers talking to Ms Lance, who is trying to be supportive but maybe not quite achieving that goal. The teacher looks over at Lena as she approaches and smiles. “Hey! Nervous?”

This earns a laugh from Lena. “Not at all- I always feel like a dog is chasing its tail inside me.”

Ms Lance laughs as well. She serves as the faculty advisor to student council, and nobody is sure if she’s paying no attention at all or keeping a keen eye on things, which is actually a pretty effective strategy. 

“You’ll both be fine. Just think before you speak, and take as much time as you need to answer a question.” Veronica was pacing now and looking more and more not-fine by the second. Ms Lance stepped closer to Lena, addressing only her. “Answer ONLY the question, okay? If you take your time you’ll be able to tell if more information is needed, but you don’t get to take back anything you already said.”

Behind them Veronica is burning up the flooring. “My father is coming home early from his business trip and said he’ll be deciding the terms of my trust fund based on the outcome of this. Can you believe that?! I think I’m going to be sick.”

More student council members are arriving, and Ms Lance moves to let them all in with a meaningful look at Lena. 

Lena grabs Veronica by the shoulders to stop her from continuing her pacing. “Look at me! This doesn’t really matter in the long run. We’re going to be fine. Tell the truth, seem sorry, and otherwise keep your mouth shut. They don’t need to hear about your trust fund, Jesus. Can you handle that?”

Veronica straightens up in the face of Lena’s resolve. “Okay. Yeah. Okay.”

Everybody involved is inside the room, so Lena and Veronica make their way in together. Ms Tate is seated in her favorite chair- a deep burgundy, high-backed, vintage affair with lettering embossed along the wood at the crown and down the sides- looking as severe as she can. Everyone else is seated at a long, overly polished table. Jess, the vice president of student council, looks nervous with the gavel in front of her.

It turns out that everyone is nervous. Veronica giggles at a grave set-up and leans toward Lena, quietly saying, “this looks like an episode of SVU.” Jess hands a sophomore boy a full manila folder, which he promptly drops. Jess and Jack stand to help retrieve the fluttering papers, the rest of student council starts to chuckle a little, anxious and audible. Finally, Ms Lance clears her throat meaningfully as she looks at the clock.

Jess calls the meeting to order, and suddenly the room is grave. “This is a disciplinary hearing instead of a regular meeting. Regular business is, um…” Her eyes find Lena’s, and Lena gives her a short nod. Jess breathes out slowly. “Regular business is deferred until our next meeting. Lena Luthor and Veronica Sinclair have broken the reporting rule--” 

“Are accused of breaking.” Everyone pauses and looks at Ms Lance. “You know. Allegedly.”

Jess stifles a smile. “They are accused of breaking the reporting rule, and Veronica is accused of…” Jess pauses to look at the paperwork in front of her. Ms Tate clears her throat. “Of acting irresponsibly and physically endangering fellow students.” 

Jess is cut off by Ms Tate as soon as she opens her mouth again. “Thank you Jess. Before we begin, I must remind all of you of the scholarship drive we’re in, and help you understand that this drive is important to the survival of this school. If we wish to continue offering the supreme education to which you’ve become accustomed, we are required to meet certain outside conditions for little things like being an accredited organization. In the face of this, a student has harmed other students, and the student body president has sat idly by. Miss Sinclair, what do you have to say for yourself?”

Veronica looks scared again, like she’s watching her trust fund be transferred to a different name. “Nothing, Ms Tate, except that I apologize. I didn’t realize how serious this was and now I- I feel terrible.”

“You didn’t realize. You’ve been at this school most of your earthly life and you didn’t realize. Incredible.” Ms Tate scoffs dramatically before lowering her voice to a more typical volume. “Ms Nye, please go fetch Jennifer for us.”

Gemma rushes up and out of the room, as Ms Lance looks around incredulously. “Are we calling witnesses to disciplinary meetings now? Jess, is Jennifer even on the agenda?”

“No--” Jess starts, but she is abruptly interrupted.

“Jennifer  _ volunteered _ , after the agenda was typed up.”

Jess carefully avoids looking at anyone else. “We’re all using digital agendas.”

Ms Tate pays her no mind, busy ushering in her surprise witness and nearly cooing at her to calm her down. “Now, Jennifer, please tell us your story, in your own words.”

“I wanted to get a piercing- I was going to get one downtown, but this was so much more convenient, and it usually takes forever to get an appointment, and...um...yeah. I guess it got infected? It got really swollen and red and started hurting so I had to take it out anyway.”

“Let’s talk about your father, and how he responded.”

Jennifer at least has the decency to look apologetic. “He said he was going to pull his donation and leave the school high and dry, and that I could just go to school near his Paris headquarters, unless…um...unless…” Her eyes flit across Veronica, then Ms Tate.

“Unless what, Jennifer?”

“Um, unless punitive measures were taken.”

Ms Tate looks triumphant; Ms Lance rolls her eyes so hard it’s nearly audible. 

“Thank you Jennifer, you may go now.”

“Not so fast, actually.” Ms Lance’s voice is not raised, but it is commanding. “Jennifer, did Veronica approach you about getting a piercing, or did you come to the clinic?”

Jennifer’s eyes are wide and she’s glancing back and forth between Ms Tate and Ms Lance. “Um, I saw a flyer and decided to check it out.”

“And you said you’d already been thinking about getting a piercing, and this was just another opportunity.”

“Yeah.”

“Jennifer, am I correct in understanding that you legally drive a car, can legally direct your own healthcare, and are otherwise generally considered to be in charge of your own body?”

“Yeah...yes.”

“Great! Thank you, you may go now.”

Everyone in the room looks shocked or amused, except for Veronica, who says, “Ms Tate, I’m sorry! I’ll pay her medical bills. This doesn’t have to...be a thing. I’ll make a donation to the campaign too!”

Ms Lance begins to answer, but Ms Tate cuts her off. “Your apology is noted! You may go for the day, thank you.”

Veronica walks out with her head held high, but Lena notices a tremble in her lip. Lena steels herself for her own turn.

“Now Lena,” Ms Tate says, still standing. “Perhaps now that you’ve had the chance to think over our talk, you have an answer for why you didn’t report Veronica immediately?”

Lena is composed, but she doesn’t really have an answer. “I still don’t understand which rule Veronica was breaking when I walked by.”

Ms Tate looks thunderous. “The point is the SPIRIT of the rules! You know students shouldn’t be harming one another. You simply don’t agree with some of the rules.”

“By the time we’re in high school we shouldn’t need to tell on each other.”

Ms Tate’s lips thin to nothing; she looks like a skeleton with hair with her face so taut. Ms Lance smirks before catching the expression on the dean’s face and deciding to speak.

“Lena, if you saw an adult beating a child, would you say something?”

_ Ah, she does have a plan. _ “Of course. I would tell the adult to stop and call an authority. I’m not afraid to fight if I need to. But this is nothing of the sort.”

Ms Tate interjects, seeing the room swaying away from fear and toward sympathy for Lena. “Even if one of the people involved was the child of an important public figure, like Jennifer?”

Lena hears the lines to Invictus running through her head.  _ Out of the night that covers me… _ “Why would it matter who was involved, in either example? Veronica didn’t force anyone to get a piercing. An infection is bad, but Veronica isn’t to blame for that. She provided a licensed professional to perform an elective service. That’s not exactly criminal behavior.”

Ms Lance is nodding, the council members look finished, and Ms Tate is struggling to contain herself. 

“Anything else, Lena?”

Lena wants to yell at Ms Tate now, but knows she needs to control herself. “No,” she grits out, before nodding to student council, standing, and exiting the room. Outside, she sees Veronica being comforted by Gemma. Lena rolls her eyes and sits on another bench. 

When Ms Lance comes to retrieve Lena and Veronica, she looks grim. They each retake their seats. 

Ms Tate clears her throat primly into the silence. “Jess, would you like to conclude this meeting?” 

Jess looks livid. “Ms Tate has decided to suspect you each for one week. Since it’s Thanksgiving break, one week is equivalent to three days.” Veronica is starting to hyperventilate as Jess continues. “This will not go on either of your records unless you go through a separate, unsuccessful disciplinary process.”

Veronica stands suddenly and walks out. Lena raises her eyebrows and moves to follow her out, but Ms Tate stops her with a sharp, “You’re not yet dismissed, Miss Luthor.”

Lena freezes and looks toward Jess. Ms Tate continues, “We have never had behavior like this from a student body president before. Therefore, we have chosen to hold a vote of confidence when school resumes after the holiday.” 

“It’ll only go on your record if the majority votes no confidence,” Jess adds hastily. Ms Tate’s eyes are boring into Lena.

“Okay.” Lena gets up, smiles at council, and continues keeping eyes on Ms Tate until she walks past her and out the room.

  
_ I should call Kara. _


	6. Thinking About Knowing Things

Lex knocks on Lena’s bedroom door the next morning, and Lena is suddenly wide awake and aware. She jumps up and opens the door, and Lex quickly pops inside and closes the door behind him.

“What’s going on? Did someone die?” Lena can hear a small commotion near her front door.

“Seems like somebody from your school called Lillian.”

Lena takes a deep breath to keep from panicking. “Lex...is that Lillian outside?”

Lex nods grimly. “I told her I was dropping by to brag about how well I’m doing in life while you waste away in grade school, and she let me know she was moving back in here to keep an eye on you. There’s a small brigade of very large men moving her things inside.”

Lena’s mouth gapes open for a moment before she remembers her manners. “Well...I guess I’d better get presentable. I’ll be out in a couple minutes.” She shoves him back through the door and briefly leans her head against it before pushing off and getting dressed.

When Lena leaves her bedroom, she meets her mother-  _ stepmother _ \- in the kitchen and greets her as though nothing is out of the ordinary. Lillian is less than impressed.

“It seems you were so far removed from us physically that you forgot your duties to your family. We’ll be remedying that immediately. I’ll be working from here until you move to college to help you remember.” The older woman looks at her with cold eyes, perhaps searching for disagreement.

_ No need to get her riled up even more. _ “Yes ma’am.” 

“Good. Lex will stay the weekend to help rearrange these living quarters. I expect you’ll still have school work to complete over the holiday, and I do not want to get any further calls from the academy where I have to hear that a Luthor has been dragged into some scheme with that idiot Sinclair child. Understood?”

Lena bristles slightly at that- Veronica may be a bit of a troublemaker, but she isn’t stupid- but recognizes now is not the time for argument. “I understand. I’ve got several projects I am hoping to complete early, and then I can get a jump on all the end of semester work.”

Lillian just nods before sweeping out of the kitchen, leaving Lena to think about how she’ll arrange her day to finish all her work before she sees Kara tomorrow.

***

The Cloisters is a medieval art and architecture museum inside a park, and even though that’s pretty educational, Lena isn’t thinking about school at all as she walks toward the main building. She’s early, so she is completely surprised when she sees Kara leaning against the granite and looking in the other direction. She slows down to study the other girl. 

Kara is wearing a red turtleneck sweater over a denim skirt or dress that should look goofy, but comes off as charming. Her blonde hair is out and curling around her shoulders, soft against the outline of her jaw.  _ She’s beautiful. _

Lena shakes her head almost imperceptibly before resolutely approaching the subject of her meandering thoughts. “Hi.”

Kara’s face snaps toward hers, a smile washing over it before her eyes even touch on Lena. “You really came!” 

Lena’s own smile turns a bit indignant. “Of course I came. Why wouldn’t I have?”

“I just wondered if you’d still want to listen to me talk,” she says. 

Just then a bus comes screeching up to the loading zone and opens the bus doors. The bus driver looks as though they’re contemplating not showing up to pick this load up again as swarms of elementary students with little notebooks and tiny pencils and enormous backpacks come pouring out, with some adults trying to corral them. Kara is beaming at the kids, intermittently glancing toward Lena. “I’ve um, kinda been thinking about that guard and those two little boys all week.”

_ She’s been thinking about us? I can’t tell her I haven’t been. _ “This really weird thing happened at school, actually, that’s been taking up a lot of my time.” Lena goes on to explain the disciplinary measures she’s undergoing and why.

Kara is incredulous. “Over EAR piercings?!”

“Well, not just ears.”

“Faces, then. Face piercings.” She looks around, scanning the crowd quickly, then settling her gaze. She points across Lena, suddenly standing closer than expected. “Like those three over there, right?”

“I suppose it is all a little harsh. There’s a fundraiser...yes, it’s harsh.”

“A LITTLE harsh. Well. If you ever want a new ear piercing let me know. My sister taught me how. I’ll do yours for free!” 

Lena couldn’t help but smile, feeling all the sudden a bit light-headed. “Sure, I’ll come to you first.”  _ Why did I say that? Lillian wouldn’t even let me get more piercings. _

Kara beams at her then, like a personal ray of light, before exclaiming over a particularly beautiful lavender bush. Lena is still grinning like some sort of fool as Kara breaks off a sprig, squares her shoulders, and straightens her back. Kara’s face when she turns back to Lena is solemn, and she looks almost like another person.

“My favor, sir knight.” Kara holds out the lavender boldly. “And will you wear it into battle?”

“Madame, I would wear it, even until death.” Lena has already accepted the sprig when a wave of self-consciousness flows over her, so she sniffs at it delicately rather than continue speaking.

“Good sir, surely a knight so gallant and skilled as you could never fall in battle.”

_ Oh God, she’s going to keep going. I am not this kind of clever. _ Lena is tamping down panic now at the expectant look on Kara’s face.  _ Think!  _ “Madame,” Lena begins, trying to sound like Malory but coming off more Shakespearean, “when I carry your favor, I carry your memory. Your memory brings your image, and your image comes between myself and my opponent, allowing him to unhorse me with one lance.”

Kara is smiling now, sly around the corners of her mouth, and reaches toward Lena with her palm up.

“Hold it!” 

Both girls look over to find a kid with a huge, expensive camera pointed at them. His face is completely obscured as he sights through the viewfinder.

“Return my favor quickly, good sir, for I would not have you fall.”

Lena hands over the little plant and the kid snaps a series of action photos at the same time, chronicling the arc of their hands toward each other to their meeting. The clicking noise from the camera seems to break the girls out of some reverie. Kara’s fingers curl slightly, holding Lena’s in place, as she says, “send those to me, yeah? I bet they’re really good! Just please don’t put them online.” The child nods, squinty-eyed in the sun with the camera not blocking it. Kara pulls out an honest to goodness business card and hands it to the little shutterbug and watches the card go safely into a pocket.

Kara turns back to Lena then, both of them realizing at the same time that they’re holding hands. Kara squeezes and lets go, adjusting her bag. “Are you hungry for lunch, or would you like to go look around first? There’s the sad virgin--” Kara pulls a despondent face and looks down, just like one of Lena’s favorite statues; “the angry lion--” here Kara silently roars, then curls the air above her lip like it’s the moustache of the lion fresco in the Romanesque Hall; “or, of course, the unicorns.” Now she lifts one foot as though prancing and a hand to her upturned forehead mimics a horn. 

Lena is amazed at how quickly Kara captures the essence of each possibility. “Unicorns, I think.”

“Good! They’re my favorite.”

“Mine too.” Lena almost says what she’s thinking out loud-  _ you’re my favorite _ \- but gulps it down. They stare at each other for a few moments, just sort of seeing, before Kara’s lopsided grin grows. 

“I’m not sure if I believe any of this is real or not.” Kara’s voice is the softest Lena’s heard it.

Before she can answer, Kara casually nudges her elbow and sets them both toward the exhibit.

The unicorn tapestries- six complete, one fragment- are collected in a quiet room. Together they depict a unicorn hunt, with lords and ladies and dogs. They find and harm one creature, leaving it looking dead in one full tapestry, although in the last one the unicorn is alive, collared, and in a pen surrounded by foliage. The flowers are vibrant still, but Lena can never get the disillusioned look on the unicorn’s face out of her head. Lena notices the blonde is looking at the final tapestry forlornly, and a quick glance between them proves they feel the same way.

“How many times have I told you not to touch?” Suddenly a large group with a tour guide follows a naughty child and parent. Kara nudges Lena’s elbow again and they quickly head for the exit. 

The pair hurries outside and well into the park, helping each other dodge particularly soggy steps before arriving at a wide, flat, mostly dry rock. Kara climbs up and sits, attempting to take off her backpack at the same time. Lena’s eyes follow her movement just a second before her brain catches up with what she’s seeing- Kara clearly trapped in her bag straps. She lets out a chuckle and moves to help. “Hold still so I can see where to pull!”

Kara stills instantly, and Lena’s fingers deftly run down from the tops of Kara’s shoulders to the bag straps before she pulls, letting Kara move her arms back on her own. Kara is swallowing rather harshly. Lena doesn’t notice a thing but the definition of muscles under that silly red sweater. Lena hands over the backpack quietly before going to her own seat, facing Kara with room between them.

“Right! Um, yes. Food!” Kara’s eyes light up at the prospect of devouring the picnic she had packed herself. “We’ve got egg salad sandwiches, bananas, spice cake from Eliza- that may be disgusting because I helped make it- cheese and salami, coffee.” She is opening containers and foil or beeswax wrappers as she speaks, putting a flourish on the coffee by clunking down two cups.”

“Quite the spread,” Lena says, mildly impressed. As she pours herself some coffee from a thermos, Kara eyes her.

“Oh! I brought cream and sugar as well, just in case. I didn’t know what you liked.” Lena, mouth full of coffee, shakes her head primly. “Really, you just drink it black?”

“I have always taken coffee black, and now it seems like it’s too late to switch it up.”

Kara shudders a bit but gives no other indication of switching personas. “Sir knight, I have set before you the most excellent mead, sliced boar, and peacock from the royal castle.” 

“Indeed, this is the finest table at which I have ever dined.” 

The blonde flashes a grin, then some look more melancholy. “You must think I’m a weirdo. I know usually only little kids play pretend for so long.” 

_ She’s just so...earnest. _ “Did I look as though I didn’t like it?” 

Kara’s breath seems to hitch. She smiles again and shakes her head even as she drops it toward the food between them. Lena goes on to tell her about her deep love for Arthurian tales, how she play-acted as Morgana most often. They talk about their childhoods, finding they were both adopted, their siblings. They talk about their SAT scores and trips they want to take.  _ Why is it so easy to talk to her? _

“My first choice for universities is Berkeley.” Kara shifts closer, as if sharing a secret.

“University of California at Berkeley- that Berkeley?”   
  
“That’s it! I’ve really missed California. That’s where I lived when I first moved in with the Danvers- San Jose, then San Francisco- but I could do southern California too. Metropolis is...scary? You’re basically the first nice person I’ve met here.”

“Now Kara, that seems impossible.” Lena is horrified at the very idea.  _ How could anyone be anything other than nice to her? _

Kara grins, sort of ruefully. “Come to my school next week and you’ll see.”

They each catch the others’ eyes then, and just look at each other. Kara smiles wide, then looks down as though sheepish. 

“What?”   
  
“Nothing! I just almost- I mean you’re...um, nothing, I just felt a ramble coming on. Are you taking the subway home?”

***

Sunday morning finds three of the Luthors seated at the table in the dining room, each with several seats between them as though the tension might dissipate in the open air. Lillian is going over potential gifts for Board members at LuthorCorp with Lex and ignoring Lena entirely. 

“Don’t most companies give a standard gift? We could easily personalize--

“For the Abbott woman, a decent pair of earrings, so next year’s Board photo doesn’t require editing out those awful ones she’s been wearing all year, don’t you think?”

Lex pauses only a moment before answering, “Oh, Lena knows more about earrings than I do.”

Lena freezes upon hearing her name, and stays frozen in the awkward silence. She looks up slowly to meet Lex’s eyes, and he immediately begins laughing. It’s not a little laugh, either, and it goes on and on, even after tears begin falling from Lex’s reddened face. The situation is so ridiculous that Lena can’t help herself and begins to chuckle as well. Lillian looks back and forth between her guffawing charges and narrows her eyes.

“This is a conversation meant for family ears only. Alexander, we will reconvene when you are less distracted.”

Lena knows she should not have let guard down for that brief moment, but she feels stung nonetheless. She immediately loses her smile and straightens her back, assuming her finishing school posture. 

Lex has the decency to stop laughing at least. “Sorry, kiddo. Do you want me to tal--”

“No. You need to meet this deadline Lex. I’ve got some other things I should be working on.” 

Lena stands and heads for the front door, deftly grabbing her coat as she exits the building. Once outside she doesn’t pause to get her bearings until she’s not in view of the house.  _ That’s not even the meanest thing she’s ever said to you. Get a grip. _ She takes a breath and heads toward the Promenade.

***

Lena is staring at the Brooklyn Bridge, following tiny pinpricks of cars crossing and lost in her thoughts. 

“Don’t jump- I can’t fly.”

Lena does jump, and her hand flies to her heart as she startles. “You nearly--” She turns to see her assailant and then falters. “Oh, it’s you! How is it you?”

Kara grins, lopsided and big. “I wanted to see your house, you know, learn something about you, but then I was just standing there and it seemed silly, so I went up and rang the bell and a man in a suit answered the door and told me you’d probably be here. He was really nice and I told him I was a friend from school and he was so helpful- I hope that was okay.”

“He is nice. You’re good. I mean, that was okay.”  _ I used to know how to form coherent sentences, right? _

They stand together in silence looking over the railing, happy to see each other but both seemingly unwilling to say so, until Kara fidgets a bit.   
  
“What’s wrong, Lena?” She says it so softly it’s barely heard over the wind. “Is it the suspension?”

_ How does she even know me well enough to know what to ask? _ “Yes. In a way.”

Kara straightens up from where she was leaning, resolute now, and holds out her elbow. “Walk with me.”

Lena snakes her arm through Kara’s offered one and it’s so comfortable she can’t believe she’s never done this before.

“My aunt used to say that walking helps the mind work. She would hike out, or climb a mountain. When I was little she told me that the thing about mountains is you have to keep on climbing them even when it’s hard, and when you finally get to the top there’s always that view you’ve been working toward.”

“That’s...that’s beautiful, Kara. What does it have to do with me though?” They continue walking even though the words are a bit awkward.

“That must have come out weird. So you’re student body president right? And you’re taking college classes too, and the guy who opens your front door has to wear a suit to touch the doorknobs. Everyone expects you to be perfect all the time- even you. It must be really hard trying to live up to everyone’s expectations constantly and get to be yourself too. Maybe that’s a mountain you have to keep climbing. My aunt would say the view from the top will be spectacular.” Kara stops walking and turns to face Lena with a serious expression on. “And I guess I would remind you that you can’t get to the top tomorrow. You can’t be perfect for every person.”

Lena holds that gaze for what feels like a long time.  _ What could she possibly be seeing in me? _ “You know...you’re pretty smart for a unicorn.” 

Kara throws her head back and laughs, and it serves both as a thing of beauty and a tension breaker. They start walking again, arm in arm, and keep walking and chatting about everything under the sun for hours as though they’ve known each other for years. In the evening sometime Lena shivers, finally overtaken by the cold and damp, and Kara steers them toward a coffee shop in the Heights. Kara goofs off and Lena laughs and laughs, ignoring the annoyed wait staff completely from their little corner table, until Lena glances at her phone to silence the notifications. 

[ **Lex:** Mom has work plans for us ‘til late. Convinced her to give you some space and stay in her penthouse.]

“Kara--”

“Hey so--”

They both giggle after trying to speak at the same time. Kara motions to Lena with her hands, but Lena insists with, “no, you go first. Please.”

“Well, I know it’s getting kinda late but I thought maybe if you wanted you could come see my room or something? But it’s probably too late, so--”   
  
“You ramble, did you know that?”

Kara smoothes her hair sheepishly. “Actually, maybe you should never come over and meet my sister.” 

_ I cannot stop laughing around her. _ “We can revisit that, but I was going to say that it’s getting late and perhaps you would like to come over. Maybe for dinner? Since you seem to be fixated on people in suits.”

Kara laughs at this. “Sure! Let me just call my mom.”

They walk to Lena’s huddled together against the darkness and rain. Once Harold ushers them inside, Kara is sent to the guest bathroom with a set of spare clothes and several fluffy towels, and Lena takes the time to change into something warm herself. When she meets Kara in the dining room Kara’s eyes get comically large as she takes in the room.

“Is this your first time seeing a dining table?”

“Ha ha. I just never expected to see you in cozy clothes. The table is really nice though!”

Lena rolls her eyes good-naturedly. “Business wear is simply not appropriate for every situation.”

Harold reappears-  _ maybe I should get her a suit? _ \- along with Alma, the third of the Luthors’ chefs. The girls sit and eat and talk and laugh, and Kara befriends Alma and Harold both through her combination of voracious appetite and genuine kindness, and soon enough the staff is quietly leaving for the night and Lena invites Kara to see her room. 

She’s suddenly self-conscious about her things, and the decoration, and what parts are hers and what parts are not. This feeling passes quickly as Kara beelines for the drafting table and picks up the sketch on top.

“What’s this?”

Lena launches into a description of her solar project, and is amazed to find that Kara is both still interested and following along after five minutes. They continue looking at her sketches and plans, Kara asking questions about nanites and the mechanics of different cancers and structural engineering as needed, and Lena answering and feeling like she’s saying much more than what her words convey somehow. 

A phone rings and they both startle, then laugh. Kara picks hers up and gestures that she has to get it. “Hey! ...Oh geez, time must have gotten away from us. I’ll be home soon okay? ...Yep… Anything you’d like me to bring home? ...Okeydoke, I love you, bye.” Kara ends the call, looking at the screen for another moment before sighing and putting on an extremely serious tone. “Did you know that it’s almost 11 pm?”

Lena chuckles. “I did not realize it was so late an hour, my good knight. Would you like to be accompanied home?”

“You have a car?” Kara’s eyebrows go up.

“No, but I do have an internet connected mobile device.” She grins and points to the rideshare app on her phone. “I can call us a ride over.” She punches in the address, having memorized it from when they first met. Six minutes to pick up.

“You don’t have to ride over with me, don’t worry.”

“How will I know you weren’t axe-murdered then?”

Kara is standing in front of her now, closer than expected, “How about I call you when I get home? It would be much harder for a serial killer to fake my voice than a text.”

“I suppose that’s acceptable. Would you like to take some leftovers home?”

“There was more food?!”

Lena laughs and makes her way to the kitchen, handing over the entirety of the leftovers. Kara is deliriously happy about this development, and when Lena walks her out Kara has containers propped on one hip so she can hug Lena with the other arm. She lets go when the car pulls up but lingers close long enough to breathe out a “thanks for tonight.” Lena smiles, hoping the darkness hides her flushed face, and thanks her back. Kara ambles over with her containers and waves from inside the car, and Lena can’t help but do a little twirl as she heads toward her bedroom.

***

Lena pawed through what is definitely not the Kara drawer until she found a framed photo of them. She put it on her bedside table and stared at it until her eyes felt heavy, but she couldn’t seem to fall asleep. She tried to read a book but it was blurry, and she tried scrolling through notifications on her phone but it didn’t help. She finally gave up around 4 am after only barely dozing, got up, showered, got dressed, and headed to the labs, where she put in 16 hours of work that was not required for any class but at least helped tire her out. When she got back to her dorm and fell into bed, her eyes stuck once again on that photo, and she couldn’t stop herself from remembering.


End file.
